The Old Ways
by Jessica Scott
Summary: BtVSLotR WillowLegolas Willow wakes up in Mirkwood and is befriended by the elfin prince.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This takes place in the Rings universe about two thousand years before the books/movies (hence the reference to Legolas being one thousand years old), and in the Buffyverse in season 4 post-Oz, pre-Tara. This story will start out in the lower ratings and work its way up in places.  
  
Disclaimer: (boring recitation mode on) I own nothing in the Tolkien or Buffy universes. I have no money for which to sue. To do such would just waste your time. (boring recitation mode off)

* * *

Willow had wandered the terrifyingly dark forest for close to five days. She struggled on through the ancient trees out of sheer determination to find any sign of life. And what she wouldn't give at that moment for water. She could not believe that she'd not come across a single source of water in her five days. She dared not sleep for fear of what might find her if she did, and because the cold would probably not allow her to anyway.  
  
The icy night air penetrated clothing, skin, muscle – all the way to bone. Willow shivered violently as she stumbled over roots and stones, the sandals on her feet having allowed them to become bruised and cut as she walked. Her thin cotton skirt and sleeveless silk shirt had not been designed for such overwhelming cold, and the gaping holes and tears they now sported thanks to thorny bushes and low-hanging branches did not help matters. Tears welled up in her eyes as she vainly rubbed her hands over her arms in an attempt to warm them.  
  
'Stupid magic,' she thought miserably. 'How could a simple spell to find out who the man in my dreams is have ended up like this?' She'd been puzzling over this very question since she'd woken up on the forest floor. Her dreams of late had been haunted by a man she'd never seen before, and given the propensity of those on the Hellmouth to have prophetic dreams, she couldn't resist trying to learn more.  
  
Now, here she was trudging through a creepy forest with no idea how to get back to civilization, no water, no warm clothing, and a sinking suspicion based upon her increasing queasiness, that those berries she'd eaten yesterday out of desperation were probably poisonous. Lifting one of the remaining fruits in question from one of the pockets of her skirt, she contemplated her situation. 'After all the hell-beasties we've faced, I'm going to be taken down by stupid berry,' she mused depressingly.  
  
Before her thoughts could continue on their gloomy path for the umpteenth time since her arrival here, she saw an orange glow up ahead. 'A fire,' she realized hopefully, 'Where there's fire, there must be people.' She quickened her pace what little she could, but the days without sleep and the ill-chosen food were quickly taking their toll. The light was still several yards ahead when Willow's vision began to blur; with a strangled cry she threw her aching and tired body into the forest clearing and knew only darkness. 


	2. Chapter 2

See chapter one for author's notes and disclaimer.

* * *

Legolas Greenleaf, Prince of Mirkwood, had made his camp in the middle of a small woodland clearing and sat turning a recently hunted rabbit on a spit over the flames of his campfire. As his eyes focused on the dancing flames, his elfin ears heard movement in the trees beyond the clearing.  
  
Being a well-prepared traveler, the elf quickly retrieved his bow that lie on the ground within comfortable reach in case of uninvited guests. Drawing an arrow easily from his quiver, he set the shaft to string and took aim as the sounds of snapping twigs and obvious footfalls grew nearer.  
  
Out of the forest someone tumbled face-first to the ground on the opposite side of the clearing from where Legolas was now cautiously rising. The figure on the ground did not move as he slowly approached, and when he had reached where the someone lay and used one foot to nudge the person onto their back, he was taken aback to find a young woman at his feet.  
  
Placing his weapon aside, the young elf knelt down to the maiden. In his one thousand years of life, Legolas had never seen anyone quite like her. She was of the race of Man, but her skin was the pale shade of the Elves and her unusually short hair was the fiery color of the sunset. Reaching the knuckles of one hand down to her face, he found that her cheek was almost deathly cold. That is when he took in her very strange attire and realized that she would surely freeze to death soon.  
  
Picking up her unconscious form, he gently carried her over to the fire and sat with her in his lap. As the cold did not affect him the way it did mortals, Legolas had no blanket with which to cover this half-frozen beauty, so he began to briskly rub her limbs to restore their warmth. After a few moments, her eyelids fluttered open to reveal to him eyes that reminded him of sparkling emeralds.  
  
When Willow awoke, she found herself staring up into the most delicate and handsome face she'd ever seen. His long golden hair framed both of their faces like a curtain as his clear blue eyes inspected her. Suddenly it dawned on her, 'He's the man from my dream.' But she had other questions that pushed their way into her mind before she could think much on that realization.  
  
"Where am I? And who are you?" she queried, her mind still foggy.  
  
"This is the northern edge of Mirkwood Forrest, and I am Legolas Greenleaf, Prince of these lands, my lady," he responded as he removed her from his lap and helped her to sit near the fire.  
  
"A prince...wow. Well, I'm Willow. I still don't know where this is. I've never heard of Mirkwood."  
  
"How did you come to be in these woods if you are not familiar with their name? Very few in Middle Earth have not heard some stories of this place..."  
  
"Middle Earth? What do you..." she trailed off as she finally caught a good look at his pointed ears. "What are you?" She was wary now. He wasn't human, and in her experience that generally only led to bad things.  
  
His brow furrowed slightly at her seeming confusion and sudden wariness. "An elf, lady. Have you never seen one of my kind?"  
  
"No, can't say that I have." A sudden thought occurred to her. "Oh, great. That stupid spell must've sent me dimension-hopping..." she grumbled.  
  
Legolas' interest was piqued by this revelation. "Spell? You are Istari then?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Istari. A wizard?"  
  
"Kinda, I guess. Where I'm from I'm called a Wicca, but I guess they're pretty similar. You wouldn't happen to know a wizard, would you? Cause I really have no idea how to get home..." She mentally crossed her fingers and shook her head a bit as the fog seemed to thicken and her nausea returned.  
  
"I am familiar with a wizard named Gandalf. At last I heard, he was on his way to Imladris to speak with the Lord Elrond. It will be a long journey, but I will take you there. We shall see if his wisdom can give you aid." As he spoke he smiled warmly at her.  
  
Willow dimly registered what he said about helping her, and she would have been ecstatic under normal circumstances. Through the haze in her mind and the painful twisting in her stomach, she realized that something was really wrong. Looking to him with a grimace, she tried to convey this to the elf. "I really don't feel well..."  
  
"You should have something to drink and some food," he told her gently.  
  
Her brow furrowed as she tried to make sense of her scattered thoughts in order to reply to him. When she was able to speak, her voice came out as a weak whisper, "No...poison..." This was all she could force herself to say, and she saw a look of confusion cross his features as he moved to again hold her. With what little strength she had, she managed to loosen his grip enough to pluck the last few berries from her pocket and hold them up for his inspection.  
  
Legolas removed one hand from her arm to take the proffered berries. Crushing one and sniffing it slightly, the elf's eyes widened in dismay as he grasped the fact that she'd eaten these particular fruits. "I must go find some herbs. Try to lay still and keep warm, but do not sleep. I shall return soon." He carefully lay her on his bedroll as close to the fire as he dare, then turned and sprinted gracefully into the forest.

#####

Willow lie by the fire in a haze, and how long it took her savior to return, she could not tell. Minutes and hours felt the same to her bleary mind. Yet however long his search took, Legolas had indeed returned and sat next to his charge, boiling his newly searched herbs in a small amount of water.  
  
When he seemed satisfied with his concoction, he brought some of the liquid to Willow's lips and bade her drink. Not thinking to smell the draught before complying, she gagged and nearly spat out the foul-tasting liquid. The elf chuckled lightly at her reaction, "Yes, the taste is most displeasing, but you must drink."  
  
After she'd managed to consume all of the offensive mixture, Legolas lay down with her on the bed roll, keeping her close to the fire and pulling her now-sleeping form into his chest to conserve what heat she had managed to gain. It was in this way that Willow got her first night of rest in the land of Middle-earth. 


	3. Chapter 3

See chapter one for author's notes and disclaimer.

* * *

Willow awoke to a shaft of sunlight trying determinedly to get inside her closed eyelids. Raising one forearm to cover her face, she groaned. 'I really need to remember to close the curtains before going to bed...' This thought lasted only a moment until she realized that what she was laying on felt nothing like her bed.  
  
Removing the light-blocking arm, she opened her eyes and groaned again. "Oh, I was hoping it was just a dream..."  
  
Sitting up and surveying her surroundings, she found Legolas paused in his activities of cleaning up camp and smiling sympathetically at her pained expression. "Nay, lady, no dream." He quirked an eyebrow at her as he continued, "However, you did speak quite apprehensively of frogs as you slept..."  
  
She shuddered slightly at that image. "I have frog fear." She offered weakly with her eyes downcast.  
  
This only caused the elf to smile more. "Here, have your breakfast while I finish, then we'll be underway," he said, handing her a water skein along with some rabbit from the night before and a bit of dried fruit.  
  
Willow ate quickly and shivered again as she did so. Even with the abundant sunlight streaming into the clearing, the air was still unpleasantly cool given her attire. They were soon walking, and Willow felt much better being in this forest now that she wasn't alone.  
  
Legolas noticed the way she kept her arms wrapped around herself and thought of something that might cheer her a little. "Lady Willow..." he began, but she cut him off.  
  
"You don't have to call me that; Willow is just fine, your highness," she said, blushing at the sudden realization that she'd rudely interrupted him.  
  
"Then I insist that you call me Legolas." He smiled as she nodded. "There is a hot spring a few hours west of here. Since that is our direction, I thought you might like the opportunity to bathe and get warm."  
  
Her face lit up with a smile bright enough to rival the sun itself. "That's great. I've been out here for six days now, and that just..." she trailed off, noticing the shocked expression on his face. "What?"  
  
"You have wandered Mirkwood for that long and come across none of the fell beasts that roam here?" He was rather astonished at the prospect.  
  
"No. I mean, I could tell there was something, or a lot of somethings, out there watching me, but I never saw any of them. Of course, I still never tried to sleep..." she offered.  
  
"You must be of the very powerful Istari, for there are many creatures of great evil that lurk in the shadows and do not hesitate to make a meal of those that venture into these woods," he told her, not a little in awe.  
  
She crinkled her nose at his statement. "Oh, no. I'm not all that great with the magic. You see what happened this time...try a little scrying and poof strange new dimension for me..."  
  
He placed a hand on her shoulder to cease her rambling. "You may lack the control over it, yet you still possess the magic of one very strong. I suspect that power is what kept the creatures at bay. They sensed that you could easily harm them."  
  
She shrugged and smiled at him. "Well, I can't say I hate that. I'd much rather not be a snack for the beasties...but if they're so bad, how come you're out here?"  
  
'She has a very inquisitive mind,' he noted with pleasure. "I hunt them. It is something I do to keep the people of my realm safe." He continued with some chagrin. "And it is a form of amusement when life at court becomes to confining," he confessed with a mischievous grin.  
  
She laughed lightly at his admission. Then she did a visual weapons-check of him for the first time. She could clearly see the bow and quiver on his back, along with the hilts of what were probably long knives or short swords, she wasn't really sure which. Looking down to his tall boots, she just glimpsed some well-hidden but readily accessible small daggers. "So tell me about some of these adventures of yours..."  
  
The walked on through the forest exchanging tales, that although outrageous, were completely true... 


	4. Chapter 4

See chapter one for author's notes and disclaimers.

* * *

"So then, after everything was taken care of, Giles finally translated the writing beneath the drawing..." Willow dissolved into a fit of giggles.  
  
Smiling as he listened to her tale, Legolas put a hand on her arm to steady her as she shook with laughter, and he urged her to continue. "What? What did it say?" Calming somewhat, she finished her story, "Actual size." Again the giggles took her, but this time he fell victim, as well.  
  
When the latest fit of hilarity was under control, they found themselves standing in a bit of a clearing. Setting down his pack, Legolas gestured towards a barely discernable path off to one side. "There, Willow. The spring is just beyond the tree line."  
  
She quickly made her way down the path. Stripping her clothes off, she hurriedly stepped into the steaming water. Sighing out loud at the sensation, she let the heat relax away the aches and pains of the past week.  
  
When Willow finally felt warm again and refreshed from her time in the spring, she made her way back to the bank. Approaching the spot where her clothes had been, she found them to be gone, and in their place sat a neatly folded stack of traveling clothes in the same browns and greens worn by Legolas.  
  
'Darn sneaky elf. He better not have been peaking,' she mused half- heartedly, wondering just how he'd managed to leave them here without her noticing his presence.  
  
Upon closer inspection, she found the garments to be some of his actual clothing. Eyeing them speculatively, she called into the trees, unable to see him but knowing he would hear, "Legolas, you're a foot taller than me. There's no way these'll fit."  
  
From somewhere beyond her sight he replied. "Just put them on. We will make adjustments."  
  
Willow was fairly certain she heard him snicker as he responded, and she had the urge to stomp through the trees and wipe the smirk off his face. However, the fact that she really had no idea which direction his voice had come from thwarted that plan. 'And, of course, the fact that I'm naked.'  
  
Sighing in defeat, she struggled into the too large and, to her modern sensibilities, strange clothing. With a frown creasing her brow, she walked back to the clearing where she'd left him to go take her bath. Her eyes narrowed at seeing the smug grin on his face, and she began to glower at him. "What's so funny you...you...overgrown pixie?" Even to her the insult sounded lame.  
  
But it only made him smile more. She looked so adorable and very much like a child playing dress-up. She walked on the breeches, their cuffs a good six inches past her toes. The sleeves of the white under tunic hung off her hands by a foot. The tunic, which came to his knees, nearly reached her ankles.  
  
His continued inspection began to make her uncomfortable, and she could feel the blush creeping up her neck. "Legolas, I look silly. Give me back my stuff."  
  
He chuckled as he reached out to her with one hand, going for one of his hidden daggers at the same time. Taking her hand, he tugged her over to stand in front of him. He knelt before her and carefully cut the excess breeches to stop at her ankles. Then he split the seam on each side of the tunic from the bottom up to her waist, creating a sort of long dress consisting of a front and back panel with open sides. Placing the knife back in its hidden sheath, he rolled the sleeves of the under tunic up to the middle of her forearms. Finally, he searched his pack until he found an extra piece of lacing, which he tied around her waist as a belt.  
  
Looking down at his handiwork, she had to admit that he hadn't done a bad job. Twisting experimentally, she also found her movement much less constricted than when she first put on the rather restraining outer tunic. She may have been thin, but he was a deceptively slender elf. "Hey, this looks much better. They're warmer, too. I guess I won't have to switch back to my others."  
  
Still kneeling, his smirk returned full force as he spoke. "You couldn't have worn those anyway. I burned them to ensure your cooperation."  
  
The mischievous twinkle in his eyes only added to her indignation. Even his elven reflexes were no match for her as she gave his shoulders a shove, sending him reeling backwards where he landed in an unceremonious sprawl. He laughed out loud as she knelt over him swatting him as she scolded. "That was mean. What about my shoes? How am I supposed to trek through the forest for weeks barefoot?"  
  
Eventually calming his laughter, Legolas gestured to his pack. Glaring at him once more, she turned back to the pack and found that her sandals, whose straps had almost all broken, were now mended and on top of the other contents. Removing them with a small look of surprise, she walked a few steps to a fallen tree and sat to put them on. She was trying to keep the scowl on her face as she did so, but the corners of her mouth were betraying her and trying to twitch up into a smile.  
  
Legolas got up, retrieved his pack, and came to sit next to her. She glanced at him and almost grinned. 'No,' she thought, 'I'm mad at him...' Knowing she wasn't truly angry with him, he nudged her with his shoulder. Seeing her façade begin to crumble, he repeated the action. She finally lost the battle with herself and began to giggle. "Thank you," she said softly.  
  
Reaching into his pack again, he pulled out a pair of soft leather shoes. They weren't made for travel, but he had a solution. "Here, put these on over your own shoes. They will provide protection while your own will serve as a sturdy bottom surface."  
  
She began to do as he told her, when a thought struck her. "Why'd you waste space in your pack for extra clothes?"  
  
He chuckled and responded with a wry smile on his face, "I often need replacements. Adventures seem to follow my travels." He paused briefly. "Though some adventures are more pleasant than others," he stated and lightly tapped the end of her nose with one slender finger.  
  
Blushing at the implication, Willow quickly finished putting on the shoes and stood. It was a pleasant surprise to her that her sandals made up for the large size of the leather pair. Turning to face the elf, she offered him a hand, "Shall we?"  
  
He quirked an eyebrow, but nevertheless allowed the slip of a girl to pull him to his feet. Hefting his pack onto his shoulder, he gestured for her to begin walking. With a devilish smirk on his face, he spoke from behind her, "Willow? Did I tell you about the time that I encountered an entire glade full of frogs...?"  
  
She shrieked and clapped her hands over her ears before turning to look at him briefly, a look of horror in her wide eyes. He merely laughed as he followed her retreating form into the forest once more.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Sorry that it's taken almost two months to add a new chapter. I've been having some serious computer difficulties, so it's been impossible to update. The problems still aren't completely fixed so updates may take a while, but they will come. I promise. Thank you to everyone still reading!  
  
See chapter one for disclaimer.

* * *

They traveled for another three days with relative ease, and their trip was quite uneventful. The terrain in this part of Mirkwood was gentle enough that despite Willow's lack of long-distance walking experience, the pair was able to make fairly good time. Legolas expected that they'd be clear of the forest by noon the next day, and then they would have to journey twenty miles from the forest across the plain to the Anduin River. After crossing the river, it would be another thirty miles before they would begin the eighty-mile trek through the mountains on the Old Forest Road.  
  
The topography of the flood plains on both sides of the river would make for easy and fairly quick travel. The hills at the foot of the mountains would slow them down somewhat, but the difficult part of their journey would, of course, be the mountains themselves. He planned on making their way through various passes rather than scaling parts of the mountains as he might were he traveling alone. The roundabout way would take a little longer, but it would spare Willow the difficulties of the climbing.  
  
In fact, Legolas rather looked forward to taking as much time as possible to get to Imladris. Although he knew Willow was anxious to return to her world, he found that he truly enjoyed her companionship, and every time he thought about her eventual departure, he felt a pain inside. Willow was the closest friend that Legolas had had in quite awhile, especially since he rarely spent any length of time in the court of Mirkwood, instead opting for great stretches of time alone.  
  
Willow, too, had developed a great liking for the elf. They passed their days of travel by telling each other stories. While the first couple of days' worth had been mostly amusing adventures, as their trust of one another grew, the tales expanded to include the not-so-happy parts of their lives. Legolas told Willow about the death of his mother when he was still a young elfling. Willow explained to Legolas the details of her breakup with Oz a few months previously and the subsequent painfest (including her horribly botched Will-Be-Done spell) that followed.  
  
On this night they'd made camp, planning on setting out just after dawn to make it out of the forest by lunchtime tomorrow. Legolas sat by the fire cleaning and sharpening the blades of his weapons, as he often did when they camped, while Willow lie down to sleep. As she drifted off, she vaguely wondered, not for the first time, just when did Legolas sleep? He always went to sleep after her and was always up before her. Yawning, she figured he got enough rest somehow because he never seemed weary during the day, and she closed her eyes and slept.

#####  
  
A few hours later, Willow woke up with a start, gasping for air. She'd been having the dream again – the one that had sent her here in the first place. Legolas was prominently featured in it again, but there was also an old man. She was fairly sure that this was the Mithrandir that she'd been told about. Though Legolas had never actually seen the wizard, in the dream she could feel the magical energy that radiated from him. It was sending her inner energy all out-of-whack, and she really didn't like that feeling.  
  
She shuddered as she mulled over what bits of the dream she could remember. The whole thing was very vague and she could only get bits and pieces to make any sense. Legolas fighting, Mithrandir on a white horse, Slayers... Willow had certainly seen Slayers, but not just Buffy and Faith. She wasn't completely sure, but she thought she saw some future Slayers. This was something she was definitely going to have to talk to Giles about.  
  
Glancing over at Legolas, she found him still sitting by the fire with his eyes open. 'Geez, that elf never sleeps does he?' she idly thought, but then she noticed his breathing. It was very shallow and very regular, and he was absolutely still. Intrigued, she couldn't stop the curiosity that overcame her, and she sat up in her bedroll. Moving carefully, she quietly crawled over to his sleeping form. When she was within inches of him, she slowly leaned forward and studied his face. She shuddered again, the wrong feeling of her magic and now the creepy way Legolas slept both getting to her. She lifted one hand up to wave in front of his eyes to see if they moved. But whether or not they did, Willow would never know, for when she moved, her leg brushed up against the elf's.  
  
Willow let out a cry of alarm as Legolas sprung into action, moving faster than anything she'd ever seen. She abruptly found herself on her back with a hyper-alert elf on top of her and the blade of one of his long knives cutting into her skin where it was held against her neck. He was breathing heavily, and a frown creased his brow as he obviously tried to figure out what had just happened. His eyes widened as he suddenly registered Willow's presence and the blade at her throat. Quickly removing the knife, he pulled himself off the visibly shaken girl and helped her sit up.  
  
Remorse covered his features as he reached out to comfort her. "Willow, I am so sorry. Are you alright?"  
  
She took his hand while nodding vigorously and had to swallow before she could respond. "Yeah. I'm sorry...it was my fault. I just woke up, and the eye-thing was really creepy..."  
  
She was beginning to babble, so he placed a finger on her lips to quiet her. "Shh... It's okay. Let me see your neck." She raised her chin and tilted her head to the side, revealing an angry red line with a few trails of blood. He frowned again. "I'm very sorry, Willow. At least it is not very deep."  
  
He went to his pack and pulled out one of the pieces of cloth he'd cut from her breeches when he'd adjusted her clothing a few days earlier. Dampening it with some water he came back to her and gently wiped away the blood from her wound. When he finished, he lightly grasped her chin and looked into her eyes. "Are you sure that you are well?" he asked earnestly, noticing that she began shaking a little when he cleaned her cut.  
  
She could only nod as the distance between them seemed to grow smaller and smaller. Willow was just sure that he was going to kiss her, and her eyes closed of their own volition. But the press of his lips never came. Opening her eyes again, she found Legolas standing with his bow drawn and an arrow at the ready. He was scanning the woods in the opposite direction from where she still sat.  
  
Before she could ask what was happening, a wolf bounded into the clearing and was heading for them. Now Willow had seen some large wolves before, what with dating a werewolf and all, but this thing was enormous. It was easily as big as a horse, and despite the arrows Legolas was continually loosing towards the beast its hide was so thick that it kept advancing.  
  
Willow was desperately trying to get to her feet but not managing very well. Realizing the weaker of the two was the female, the wolf managed to muscle past the elf who'd now given up on the arrows and gone for his knives. As the snapping and snarling beast stalked around the fire to Willow, Legolas hauled himself onto the creature's back and began trying to get through the thick fur and skin to cause some damage. The wolf's progress slowed, but did not cease.  
  
The frightened Willow took the opportunity to call upon the only spell she could remember at the moment. "Goddess of creatures great and small, before thee let the unclean thing crawl."  
  
An orange light emanated from Willow's outstretched hands, and to her utter dismay, the giant wolf became a giant rat whose tail was now whipping viciously. Fortunately, the rat's hide was less tough than the wolf, and in little time and with no injuries to either himself or Willow, Legolas managed to kill the awful thing. As it fell to the ground in a bloody heap, the elf slid gracefully off its back and helped Willow up off the ground.  
  
Looking between the dead creature and Willow, Legolas couldn't find words to express his astonishment. With a grimace, she answered his unasked question with a note of complaint in her voice, "It was supposed to become a normal size rat." Her brow furrowed, and she sounded shaky as she continued. "I think this place is throwing my magic off. I woke up earlier because I saw Mithrandir in a dream, and it made my power feel weird."  
  
Legolas nodded in understanding. "That is the first evil creature we have encountered. I think I was correct about your power frightening them off." He held up a hand to stop the protest she was about to make. "Perhaps this disturbance in your dream was enough to momentarily interrupt the signal keeping them at bay."  
  
She mulled this over for a moment. "I suppose you're right. But I want to do a protection spell each time we make camp from now on. Since I know that Middle Earth affects my magic, I can try to adjust for that."  
  
"That sounds like a wise course of action," he agreed. "Now, do we try to get more sleep, or break camp and make for the plain?"  
  
Willow looked at the dead rat once more and crinkled her nose. "I'm not sleeping near that. Let's go now."  
  
They made quick work of packing up their things and smothering the fire. Leaving the rat for the spiders, they left the clearing, making their way through the forest by the light of the nearly full moon.

#####  
  
By dawn they were on open ground looking down a rolling hill and a wide, flat plain, beyond which lay the Anduin River. Off in the distance Willow could clearly see the Misty Mountains looming off in the distance. The knowledge that she'd be traveling through those towering giants left her with a vague feeling of dread, but she pushed the thought aside. It would still be may days before they made their way through the mountains, and she had Legolas to keep her mind occupied for the time being.


	6. Chapter 6

By dawn they were on open ground looking down a rolling hill and a wide, flat plain, beyond which lay the Anduin River. Off in the distance Willow could clearly see the Misty Mountains looming off in the distance. The knowledge that she'd be traveling through those towering giants left her with a vague feeling of dread, but she pushed the thought aside. It would still be a few days before they made their way through the mountains, and she had Legolas to keep her mind occupied for the time being.

And occupy her he did. Their time crossing the plain was spent educating Willow about Middle Earth. As they walked, Legolas pointed out various wild growing flowers and herbs. Although he didn't know terribly much about healing or magic, he was able to instruct her on the medicinal and mystical properties of some of the plants. For her part, Willow was making a mental inventory of which ones were similar to those she used back home. She figured the knowledge might come in handy if she had reason to whip up a potion.

When they made camp at night, Willow set up some makeshift wards and was managing to utilize some of the newfound plants to do so. While his life as a warrior left him somewhat lacking in the knowledge of the properties of plants, Legolas was well versed in the art of astronomy. As a young elfling, he'd spent many hours at the tops of the tallest trees just gazing at the stars. Now he lay on the ground pointing out some of his favorite constellations to Willow and telling her the tales and great battles that went along with each of them. She, in turn, told him many of the Greek myths for which her world's constellations were named.

Willow was even getting to the point where she could ignore the fact that each evening Legolas killed a cute little furry creature or two to be their dinner. He even insisted that in another few days he'd have her cleaning the animals for him. That merely got him a quirked eyebrow and a skeptical look. And to tell the truth, he really didn't think that there was a chance in Mandos of her actually performing such a task; he just liked to see her give him that look.

After three days, the pair found themselves at the foot of the Misty Mountains, and Willow's apprehension returned. As they stepped onto the mountain path, she looked to Legolas and he gave her a reassuring smile. Taking a deep breath she let him lead her, finding some comfort in his calming presence.


End file.
